Hydroaeroplane.



E. FORLANINI.

HYDROAEROPLANE. APPLIUATION r'iLED JULY 26, 1907.

1 24,067, Patented Apr; 23, 1912.

4 sums-sum 1.

UCYMZVLJKM E. FORLANINI.

HYDROAEROPLANE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 26, 1907.

Patented Apr. 23, 1912.

4 SHEETSFSHEET 2.

E. FOELANINI.

HYDROAEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26, 1907.

1,024,067. Patented Apr. 23, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

I APPLICATION FILED JULY 26, 1907.

PORLANINL HYDROABROPLANE.

Patented Apr. 23, 1912 4 SHEETS$HEET 4.

ENRICO FOBLANINI, OF I/IILAN, ITALY.

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means To all trimmit may concern Be it known that l, Emuoo FORLANINI, mechanical engineer, a subject of the King of Italy, residing at Yo. 21 Via Boccaccio, isiilan, ltaly, have invented new and useful Improvements in Hydroaeroplanes, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention refers to improvements in the apparatus covered by the ap plication filed April (5th 1905 Serial No. 25%,174. Said former application concerns an apparatus which I called a hydrotiying machine capable of traveling in three dis tinct ways, namely:

sels.

:2. Just raised, that is to say at a slight distance above the surface of the water. this case the apparatus is supported in the air by the dynamic reaction created during the motion of the apparatus, by air and water on plates or blades immersed respectively in the two fluids, and suitably connected to the body of the apparatus.

8. Totally raised in the air, being supported by the dynamic reaction, during the motion otthe apparatus, on aerial blades.

The supporting water-blades are at all times indispensable, because even an apparatus intended to travel in the air itself, must start from the water, when the water-blades will allow the apparatus to reach such a speed that the air-blades can support the whole of the weight without being too large.

The air-blades, while they are not necessary if the apparatus is intended to travel at all times in contact with the water, may however be of great use even in this case, chiefly when the apparatus has to travel on rough water, because the air blades can give the apparatus an additional support free from the influence of the waves, thus lessen ing the influence of the waves upon the apparatus.

In the accompanying drawings: Figures 1 to a show several ways of fixing blades to rods; Fig. 5 shows a rodwith starting blades; Fig. 6 shows a rod with notches to provide a series of weak points; Fig. 7 shows a rod carrying a safety blade and a separate beam carrying the starting blades; Fig. 8 shows a fender or special frame to protect a Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 26, 1907. Sari-a1 No. 385,675.

' 1. in the water, similarlyto ordinary ves-.

Patented Apr. as, 1912 group of blades against blows or shocks. Fig.9 is an end view of anaerial grate showing the peculiar manner of connecting the same to the body of the apparatus. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the complete machine; Fig. 11 is a front elevation of the machine; and Fig. 12 is a plan view thereof.

The water-blades a (Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, &c.,) are connected to the body of the apparatus through rods G, which transmit the upward pressure. In order to insure the transmission of the upward thrust from the blades to the rods, the rods should have a conical formation or be provided with shoulders, s,

at the points where they intersect the blades, as shown in Fig. 1. Where the rod passes through a blade, the latter will be weakened, ordinarily, so that it is advisable to reinforce the blades by ribs or enlargements, 7', as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Small blades would be too greatly weakened by passing the rod through them. To attain the necessary strength of structure in this instance, I embed the edges of the blades in notches or recesses, h, in the side of the rod, the'rod be-' mg provided with oft-sets or enlargements,

h, to reinforce and brace the blades.

In my former application I have stated that the superposed blades allow the apparatus to travel in rough-water, also that for this purpose it is advisable to adopt super? posed blades of different surface area, so that the greatest part of the supporting surface should always be immersed, the remainder of this surface being subdivided into small blades taking up the whole of the wave stratum. Such an arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 5, in which figure are shown two upper larger blades, a, a, on the rod G, which I call starting blades and are intended to raise thebody of the apparatus from the water at slow speed and to lie fully above the wave stratum at high speed. The starting blades may advantageously be secured to rods G mounted on separate beams B adapted to rotate, as shown in Fig. 7 so that the starting blades can be removed from Y the water without withdrawing the remaining blades therefrom.

Serious trouble may arise in the use of the apparatus if the hydraulic blades meet in their movement with stray bodies floatsteel.

draw the apparatus under water.

mg or partially submerged in the Water. Obyects of small size might easily pass between the openings of the structure formed come necessary to clean rods and blades,

which could be done in several ways, for instance by stopping the apparatus and then reversing [or a moment its' motion. But large or heavy bodies or obstacles such as branches of trees, beams or the like, would produce against the grate of rods and blades moving at great speed a sudden and .t'orinidable shock capable of breaking or bend ing rods G and exposing the apparatus to great danger. This trouble would be lesS serious if the a )paratus were partially sup ported by aeria blades, which consequently form a peculiar and almost indispensable feature of a hydroaeroplane. On the. other band, should such a trouble arise, it would be preferable for rods G to break like glass rather than to bend, for, by bending around in a contrary direction to their original. inclination, they would tend to it is, therefore, advisable to construct rods G of very hard steel, of little flexibility, 2'. a. tool In order to obviate this danger it is also advisable to provide in rods G a series of weak points, the said weak points being close under each blade. I ig. 6 shows the lower portion of a rod G titted with tour blades a, a, a, a close under each of the three upper blades are two dents or notches ff, f f, f f (see Fig. (3) filled with tin, and being of a depth so calculated. that a horizontal strain bearing 'on blade u would break the rod at f rather than at f f, and that it the strain were brought to bear between the blades a and. a, the rod would break at ff rather than at f f, and so on. As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the groups of rods and blades may be furtl'ier provided with an upper safety blade S which is 0rdinarily out of the water even when the machine is at rest, but \vhiclrmay rest upon the water in the event ot a rod being broken.

The above-meutione .l troubles are better met with by the arrangementshown in Fig. 8. Each rod G is provided with a protecting frame 9, g", bent at g. The different protecting pieces are connected to each other at g by a narrow'blade which increases the strength of the structure. The protecting part of the frame is from g to g and must be carried up to such a height as to protect the lower blades, or such blades only which are still immersed when the speed of the apparatus becomes dangerous. The section and the Way of construction, of frames 9 g g is the same as for rods G. Portion g g must be sutticiently strong; it can be strengthened rt iiecessary by stays t 15. Heavy obstacles floating in the "water when meeting with the inclined parts 9' g slide beneath the same under the lowest blades, and

fracture 0t rod G is avoided.

Naturally the greatest. danger will result from broken :tront groups, so that the protecting arrangement of Fig. 8 need only be applied to these groups. This arrangement will be more etl ective it bearing springs are interposed between. the beams carrying the b ades and the body of the apparatus. The groups of rods and blades and also of the protecting frames are properly strengthened bymeans of tie bars. 'lhesc bars havi a lenticular nonsymmetrical section similar to the other parts ot the apparatus.

in my former appli'aition l have stated that it very useful, in order that gradual experiments in i'iight may be etlccted, to add to a hydroplane aerial. supporting surfaces' This addition permits the operator to practise without dii ngcr the art. of maintaining the equilibrium of; the apparatus by operating vertical and horizontal rudders and, it necessary. other parts. This object will be more readily attainable if some (it the ma neuvers are effected automatically. ()ne of the most important and delicate of these maneuvers is to vary the angle that the aerial. surfaces n ake with the horizontal direction of travel in'order that the supporting force may bekept constant notwithstanding changes of velocity. or to cause the and illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10 in which the aerial blades A A are fixed to rods G" and the entire grate mounted to oscillate about a point in front of the plane of. the grate and fixed to the body of the machine. Such a grate possesses the property of automatically assuming and maintaining a. position of equilibrium in respect to the ve locity of the impinging air. It isalso essential that the position of the center of oscillation be such that it imparts to the blades the desired inclination relative to the horizontal direction of motion. This object is attained by suitably shifting the center 01 oscillation as, torinstance, illustrated in ing air raries actordiug to dicated by Z in Fig. 9i and the plane of the grate. be readily found such that at the normal working speed of the apparatus the inclination of the blades will be such as to give the highest etticiency. 3y varying the speed above or below the normal. the inclination of the blades relative to the horizontal direction of motion diminishes or increases, but the most advantageous inclination am be readily obtained by varying the distance indicated by Z and for this purpose the arm 7) is adjustable through the sleeve K. The inclination of the blades alters with the variation in the velocity of the wind, as stated above, but the vertical reaction may increase or diminish according to the degree of concavity of the blades and there is a form of blade with which this reaction practically constant over extensive speed limits. I have demonstrated that this constancy is obtained when the rise in the curve of the longitudinal section (taken in the direction of movement) about 1/18 of the length of the chord. If the rise is '1/20 of the chord the reaction will diminish when the speed increases, while the reaction will increase if the rise be 1/16 of the length of the chord. The relation of the vertical reaction to the speed is also influencedby the distance between the blades and itis possible to construct aerial grates .in which the vertical reaction will be constant. or will increase or diminish at will.

In the case of a hydroaeroplane it very important that the lift which the aerial grate exercises on the rest of the apparatus.

be practically constant, otherwise a sudden squall could raise the apparatus from the surface of the wate' and it would becomea flying machine before the operator (or any automatic device) would have time to regulate its equilibrium. If the lifting effect of the aerial grate remains constant, the pottionof weightwhich connects the apparatus with the horizontal surface of the water and guarantees its equilibrium, remains also constant. part of weight, it will be sulticient to lessen the distance Z (Fig. 9), leaving the other parts as they are; viceversa the weight sup-.

ported by the aerial grate can be lessened by increasing this distance. Itis clear that flights even atlow speed can be thus accomplished with the apparatus, for, when wishing to lessen the support given to it by the water, one can diminish Z instead of increasing the speed. The constancy of the supporting effort of the aerial frame is use ful also inthe case of flying machines, for it allows of the speed being changed without varying the height of the apparatus, and on the other hand it is easy to alter the height by altering the distance Z. It is, of

A distance mayhen it is desired to lessen this 'UtUE-lti, necessary that the motor be. said ciently elastic to allow of the etlort being changed as reouircd.

The longitudinal equilibrium being guaranteed by the great stability of my aerial grate, it becomes only necessary. in order to maintain perfectly automatic etpiilibrimn, to provide means for the transversal equilibrium. I will brietly draw attention here to the known principle, 5. c. that of making the direction of the principal forces acting on the apparatus pass through a single point (2'. 0. through the pivot of the aerial frame) and to the fact that consequently the longitudinal oscillations of the part of the apparatus situated under the aerial grate and supported by the latter, have little influence on the general equilibrium, and can be damped by horizontal rudders. These cillations also cause so little deviation in the direction of thrust.as to be of no practical importance; moreover, if required, the shafts of the propellers can be arranged to oscillate with the aerial frame, as. well as the motor. The transverse equilibrium is obtainable through some-tdevice accuratel indicating the horizon. For this purpose a gyroscope may be employed; but, it must be used simply as an indicator, and the power necessary for the regulating mechanism mustbe furnished by the motor through a relay controlled by the gyroscope.

Figs. 10, 11, 12illustrate a type of hydroaeroplane appa'atus adapted to travel as desired in either of the methods previously referred to, as well as on slightly agitated waters. C C are two cylindrical bodies, the extremities of which are tapered so as to act as stem and stern when the apparatus is floating, and to reduce the air resistance in the other tW cases. The sub-division of the hull into two parallel bodies somewhat apart from each other is advisable owing to the fact that the center of gravity of the whole machine being located rather high, the machine must be provided with an extensive supporting basis even when floating. It is evident that other conditions being the same, the stability with two separate hulls is greater than that of a single hull of equivalentsize. A single hull could, however, be adopted with certain precautions, particularly in the case of vlarge apparatuses.

.Figs. 10, 11 and 12 refer to a small apparatus of a total weight of about 500 kilograms. B B B B are short beams located at the extremities of each of hulls C. Each beam carries two rods t} provided with hydraulic supporting blades a. These rods are not parallel throughout their length, but are partly divergent, as shown in Fig. 11, in order to conveniently support blades of different sizes. The starting blades a., (F, with their rods G are carried by special beams B (see Figs. 7, 10 and 12). Safety blades center at the apparatus.

- a are shown fixed to the hulls C C. C" C G" C is a rigid cross-piece formed of tubu lar bars or beams, protected on the part exposed to the pressure of the air, by a covering of lenticular non-symmetrical section. The extremities of the crosspiece by means of springs or elastic cushions V (Figs. and 11) rest on the'two hulls C C and thus connect the latter. The cross-piece may be replaced by any suitable form of connection inodation for the operator. E E are two aerial propellers mounted on parallel shafts andrevolving in opposite directions. The horizontal shafts of the propellers may be driven in any suitable manner by the engine. in the' drawing the propeller shafts are shown by means of horizontal transverse shafts m on through bevel gearings (Fig. '11 The.transverse sh aft is driven by the engine through sprockets and chain. The shaft m m is inclosed in ahollow arm U U having a len'ticular non-symmetrical sectlon andwhich is enlarged at Z Z in theform of eggshaped housings, covering the bevel gearings. The arm U U and the shafts of the propellers are carried by the cabin, the cross piece and the hulls C C by means of hollow struts, stays and. cross-beams, having lenticular non-symmetrical section as already mentioned, in order to give less resistance to the air. T is the vertical aerial rudder.

If the apparatus is also for use on water, vit. can be providcdwlth a rudder acting in the water. V is an aerial grate connected to the body iu-the manner hereinbefore described. As shown by dotted lines in Fig. 10, the aerial grate may be kept in a lowered position when the apparatus is floating, and mayiberaised when it is to become operative. As soon as the air pressure is sutlicient theugrate automatically assumes a position of equilibrium.

Having thus fully described several improvements to my. former invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: Y

1. In a water conveyance, the combination, with the body, of rods ti'ansn'iitting the supporting thrust thereto, supporting'water blades rigidly connected to said rods, and steps on said rods as supports for the blades.

2. In a water conveyance, the combination, with the body, of rods depending therefrom and transmitting the supporting thrust to the body, of supporting water blades rigidly connected to said rods, said blades being strengthened where they are crossed by the rods.

In a water conveyance, tion, with the body, of depending rods transmitting the supporting thrust to the body, and supporting water blades rigidly fixed to said rods, the said rods having notches for holding the blades without piercing them, and projecting portions above the notches as support for the blades.

l. In a water conveyance, the combination with the body, of rods transmitting the su 'iporting thrust to the body and weakened at an intermediate point or their lengths, and supporting blades rigidly secured to said rods;

5. In a water conveyance, the 'combina tion, with supporting water blades rigidly connected to rods transniittingthe supporting thrust to the body of theaapparatus, of notches in said rods creating successive points of fracture.

6. In a water conveyance, the combination, with the body, of depending rods, supporting water blades secured rigidly on said rods, and safety blades normally out of the water and abovethe supporting'blades and intended to come in contact with the water only in case of breakage of the rods.

7. In a water conveyance, the combination with the body, of rods depending therefrom, supporting water blades connected to the rods to transmit the. supporting thrust to the body, and aframe protecting the grdttps of blades and rods from stray floating bodies.

S. The combination, with a body, of rods depending therefrom, supporting water blades secured on said rods, and tenders carried bythe rods in advance of the said blades.

S). In a water conveyance, the combination with the body, of supporting water blades secured below the same, and a supporting aerial grate pii otally mounted on the body, and means for varying the distance between the plane of said grate and its pivot.

-10. In a water conveyance, the combination, with the body, of depending supporting water blades secured thereto, a supporting aerial grate pivotally connected to the body, and means for varying the distance between the plane of the grate and the pivot thereof, the blades being longitudinally curved in an arc whose height is substantially one-eighteenth of its chord, whereby the vertical reaction of the supporting thrust of the grate'will be substantially independent of the speed of the'apparatus.

11. The combination, with the body, of an aerial grate pivotally mounted thereon, and

the conibinammeansfor vary ing the distance hetiveen the nanie to this specification in the presence of plane of the grate and the pivot. e v t-w'o subscribing Witnesses.

12. The combination withfthe body of av i sleeve pivotally mounied thereon, and an ENRICOFORLANINI 5 aerial grate adjustabiy secured in said 1 Witnesses:

sleeve.

o v ERNEST SANTI, In testlmony whereof I have 'slgned InV B. CARLO SALyoLI. 

